To a packed house at the Diana Wortham Theater last night, leaders of local and state organizations condemned the policies of the North Carolina General Assembly and heard concerns from local citizens.

More than 200 people showed up Aug. 7 for Rep. Patrick McHenry’s first-ever Buncombe County town hall. Attendees asked pointed questions about his positions on health care and a variety of other issues.

Borrowing from James O’ Keefe’s playbook, the Buncombe County Young Republicans aimed to make a mockery of Moral Mountain Monday attendees Aug. 5, enticing them to sign a “a fake petition to decrease, or restore funding levels to the last year that Democrats were in control, which effectively lowers it by millions of dollars.”

An estimated 8,000 to 10,000 people showed up for Mountain Moral Monday this evening, filling Pack Square Park and protesting the policies of the North Carolina General Assembly. It was one of the largest demonstrations in Asheville’s recent history. Photo by Julia Ritchey.

With state legislators opting not to vote on redistricting reform this year, local bipartisan supporters rallied in downtown Asheville Aug. 1 to start campaigning on behalf of passing the measure in 2014.

With filing over last Friday, Ashevilleans now have a firm idea of who’s running for office in this year’s local elections. Three candidates are vying to be the city’s next mayor, and six seek to fill three open City Council seats. Here’s a rundown of the candidates and their statements (if they’ve issued one).

A bill that would both rename the Biltmore campus of the Mountain Area Education Center and honor former state representative and lifelong Asheville resident, Mary Nesbitt, was signed into law yesterday by Gov. Pat McCrory. (Photo of the bill signing courtesy of Sen. Martin Nesbitt’s Facebook page)

As state Rep. Tim Moffitt contemplates a move to switch Asheville to predominantly district elections, similar changes he pushed for the Buncombe County commissioners continue to have far-reaching effects.

UNCA political science professor Bill Sabo sees definite advantages to district election systems in cities with populations over 100,000. But with Asheville well below that threshold, it’s less clear what making such a switch here might mean.

The recent disclosure that state Rep. Tim Moffitt had drafted a bill to change Asheville City Council contests from an at-large system to predominantly district elections has triggered heated debate among both elected officials and the general public. Although Moffitt hasn’t yet filed the bill, which mirrors the state-mandated 2011 switch for the Buncombe County commissioners, he could follow through at any time, and the potential impacts are substantial. In the following articles, Xpress takes a closer look at what such a move might mean for this city — and for this year’s scheduled elections.